


Marital Property

by LPAnon



Category: Once Upon a Time (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, F/F, Marriage, Same-Sex Marriage, Swan-Mills Family
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-01-25
Updated: 2018-02-07
Packaged: 2018-09-19 21:23:50
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 7,406
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9460934
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LPAnon/pseuds/LPAnon
Summary: Regina and Emma have been divorced for six years when Emma decides to come back into Regina's life. Unfortunately, she has to convince not only Regina that she's worth a second chance, but also their children. And they don't seem to be in the mood to play nice. AU No Magic.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> So this is my first Swan Queen work and it was originally a half-baked fic for another fandom that I write for. However, I do believe that it was meant for Emma and Regina and look forward to hopefully doing them justice in this story.  
> That being said this is incredibly AU. Like really, really AU and inspired by a manip that I found on Twitter from a user who I plan to give props to as soon as I get permission. If you stick with me through this first chapter, I promise that everything will come to fruition in due time.  
> Please review and let me know if you think I should continue on this wild journey

"Henry, Olivia, come down here! She'll be here soon!" She called loudly in an attempt to make her voice carry up the stairs, continuing to stow the leftovers from the Chinese take out that had been her daughter's choice for dinner.

She was certain that she already felt the MSG eating away at her stomach lining, but such was the life of a working mother when you let your sixteen year old children choose your meals every other night.

She'd make up for it on Monday by making glazed salmon served on sautéed veggies. Vengeance would be so sweet.

Closing the refrigerator door, she heard the unmistakable sound of heavy footsteps ambling down the stairs, and raised a perfectly shaped eyebrow at the display of dramatics.

Just as she was about to send up a verbal inquiry, two teenagers rounded the corner. One with shaggy chestnut locks, dressed in a simple baseball tee and jeans and the other with dirty blonde hair piled atop her head in a chaotic clump that could barely be called a bun, with a beaten leather rucksack hanging carelessly from her fingers. To complete her grungy, thrift shop look, she had on an oversized grey sweatshirt and denim shorts. Both sets of feet were encased in scuffed up Converse.

Looking down at her own deep red sleeveless blouse, ironed black slacks, and nude colored pumps, Regina Swan-Mills had never been more sure of the other mother of her children.

"You have brushes, right?" Regina asked sarcastically, rounding the kitchen island and bringing her hands up to try to salvage what she could of the blonde's hairstyle, "I could've sworn I bought you both brushes."

Taking a step back and laughing at her mothers antics, Olivia swatted at the intrusion, "Shut up. Sorry not all of us have perfectly coiffed hair."

Rolling the last three words off her tongue in a near perfect imitation of the older woman, she threw her backpack up onto the counter, ran a hand over her mothers sleek brunette locks, and hopped up onto a barstool next to her brother. Henry chuckled at the playful argument and grabbed a banana, beginning to peel it but pausing when he saw the wide eyed look of shock on his moms face, "What?'

Regina placed her hands down and tilted her head, leaning across the marble slab that was separating them, "Henry, seriously? You just ate a whole carton of fried rice and half of a family sized order of orange chicken. How are you still hungry?"

The brunette shrugged, "Fast metabolism, I guess." Grinning he sunk his teeth into a huge bite of the banana.

"Yeah, you get that from your ma." Regina shook her head endearingly, walking around to wrap her arms around her son's neck and kissing the top of his head. She savored the moments when she could catch either of the children in a seated position because that was the only time she had a height advantage on them anymore. They both grew like beanpoles, Olivia sprouting two inches taller than her and Henry four inches both by their freshman year of high school and they were still growing everyday. They got the height from their ma too.

And Liv's blonde locks.

And Henry's fair skin.

And their stubbornness. Stubbornness that was currently being put on display.

"Speaking of the asshole, what time is she supposed to get here?" The mood in the room immediately shifted as the angst-ridden version of Olivia (who only came out at the mention of her mother) joined the conversation.

"Don't swear." Regina reprimanded with a perfectly arched eyebrow, as she strode towards her purse to retrieve her cellphone, wondering why her ex-wife was already late.

When it came to her children there wasn't much she could do in terms of their feelings towards their ma. She could try for hours on end to convince them that Emma was a great women (or at least that she used to be), that was 150% committed to her family and loved them with an intensity unmatched by anything she'd ever seen in her life, but they would never believe it. Especially after having dealt with the woman that had been weekend mothering them for the past six years.

A woman that was decidedly not the Emma that Regina had once loved.

Having met in high school Regina had felt instantly drawn to Emma, much to her own chagrin. She was a prim and proper Mills who was supposed to marry a man of old money and be a perfect trophy wife. So when she began to fall for the lanky, talented, and very unmanly Emma Swan, she fought the emotions tooth and nail. Emma however, would have none of it and pursued Regina relentlessly. Known as the resident musician of their small high school in Maine, Emma approached Regina (an aspiring poet at the time) and asked for her assistance in writing a love song for someone she'd had her eye on. Initially devastated by the request, Regina wrote the song anyway and hoped it would help her move past her own feelings for the blonde. When Emma got on stage at the homecoming dance and dedicated it to the brunette though, Regina knew the coming relationship was inevitable. Much to the regret of her mother, Regina began dating and writing songs with Emma.

The relationship continued while Regina attended college at Cornell and Emma continued sending in her music to producers and record labels. Once she was a signed recording artist she had committed herself fully to Regina by doing everything right, proposing to her and giving her a dream wedding, then pouring herself into work to provide a more than comfortable living situation for them.

Regina's mother eventually grew to love Emma and with the brunette woman having finished school and the singer having established a solid enough career to take a break from, they wanted to grow their family. The women decided that Regina would carry Emma's egg, and they picked a male donor with characteristics similar to the brunette's so that they would both have as deep of a connection as possible with the child. The IVF treatment went better than expected and they found out two months into the pregnancy that they were having twins.

After Henry and Olivia were born Regina continued to write songs for both Emma and other artists, and the blonde continued to go on world tours bringing both her wife and their newborns on all of her journeys. At some point Regina had decided that the rockstar life would no longer be conducive for raising their children and that she wanted to get Henry and Liv settled into a real home, where they could go to a real school and make real friends.

Emma agreed reluctantly, but wasn't ready to settle herself down yet. After years of her being home for five months and touring for seven, their relationship began to fall apart.

And they both sat back and watched it happen.

And here they were now. She and the twins living in a beautiful home in Long Island, Henry and Liv in their Junior year of high school and Regina owning a record label that she'd built from the ground up during all those lonely hours spent without Emma.

And the singer off doing God knows who, God knows when.

Every now and then, more frequently as of late, she'd drop in to see the human beings that she sired. At least that's how it seemed to Regina. She could only imagine how the twins felt.

Since the divorce, their children had been the recipients of countless lavish and extravagant gifts for every holiday (Emma had gotten Henry an antique sword for Easter once and Regina had actually almost killed her), but it didn't make up for the blonde not being around. Emma had been Henry's best buddy until he was ten. That meant he understood what he'd lost from the divorce, and Emma never did too much to remind him that the demise of her and Regina's marriage wasn't his fault and that he still had the same ma that he'd always had.

Not to mention the poor children were faced with the daunting task of having Emma Swan-Mills as a mother. 

Once very loving and trusting children, by the age of twelve the twins had already seen a myriad of friendships crash and burn because of what other kids thought that they might be able to do for them.

"Wait. You can't get your ma to sing at my birthday?"

"How come you didn't get swords for us too? It's no fair only you guys get one!"

"Why doesn't your ma live with you? Does that mean I won't get to meet her?"

Now much more aware of the precarious position that their status as Emma Swan-Mills children presented, they mostly stuck with a core group of friends that they'd had since sixth grade.

But Regina wasn't complaining. They were an awesome group of kids.

"Yes, mother." The young blonde complied, visually shrinking into her seat, head dropped into her hands, as the rap of knuckles on their front door rang through the home. "Do I have to go with her?"

"Unfortunately, yes." Regina joked, walking down the long hallway to the entrance, resisting the urge to check her own appearance in the mirror hung on the wall. She was past caring what Emma thought of her. "Some stupid law about joint custody." With a wink towards the distressed teens, she opened the door to hell. Both literally and figuratively.

"Emma." She greeted with as much warmth as she could muster up.

Which sadly happened to be quite a bit.

Most of it resting low in her stomach.

Because as usual, her ex-wife looked phenomenal.

Sharp as a knife in a crisp blue button down, and pressed black slacks, shoes shining like the 24 karat promise ring she'd bought their daughter when she was eleven.

24 karats. Eleven years old.

"Hey, Your Majesty." Her mouth curved into a smirk, and she tucked her hands into the pockets of her pants.

"Regina, Emma. It's Regina." She tried to ignore the way her heart clenched at the old nickname, just as it always did. A constant reminder of when things were easier between them, before the fame and money. Back when Emma saw her as nothing more than an overly regal teenager. "Henry! Liv!"

She beckoned the twins forth, knowing that they were still sitting in the kitchen, ignoring her, and trying in vain to delay the inevitable.

"How have you been?" Her ex asked with a genuine smile and a lift of her shoulders.

Oh, this is so not what she was in the mood for tonight. Still clad in her business clothes she just wanted to slip out of her heels, throw her hair up and drink cider while watching Netflix.

And probably invite Ruby over so she didn't seem as pathetic.

But having a casual conversation with the mother of her children was less appealing than any of those things. "I've been great. How are you?"

Her arms folded across her chest and the muscles in her shoulders strained against the fabric of her shirt. She leaned against the doorjamb before responding, "Good. Just wrapping up my new album. How's the record label?"

"Still kicking." Just today she'd signed the newest up and comer on YouTube. Of course she wasn't going to share that news with the blonde though because that would only spark further conversation. Fingers digging into the door handle she calls back over her shoulder, "HENRY DANIEL AND OLIVIA JADE!"

"We're coming! Jesus." Henry muttered under his breath, backpack in his hand as he shuffled towards his parents, trailed by his sister.

"Hey, kid!" Emma held out her arms expecting an embrace since she hadn't seen him in almost six months.

"Ma." Henry's voice was cold and detached. He wrapped his arms around Regina's neck and gave her a sweet kiss on the cheek, "Bye mom. I love you. Have fun tonight, okay?" He took hold of his mom's hands and gave a little squeeze. Flashing a quick smile, he ran out the door.

Right past his ma's waiting arms.

A tinge of hurt clouded Emma's eyes and Regina felt something lodge in her throat. Swallowing it down, she listened as Olivia attempted to console the woman that she'd once called her wife.

"Don't worry about that, ma. He's just…ah, you know." Her arms were flailing uselessly and she seemingly gave up even trying to explain the situation. Both mothers noted however, that their daughter ignored the proposed hug as well instead opting to just follow her brother to the car.

"Uh yeah. Yeah. I know." When Emma ran her hand through her tamed hair, she was brought back to the days when the blonde locks constantly showed signs of that nervous tick of hers, disarrayed being the only word that could be used to describe the retired look. "Um, Regina, I need to talk to you about something."

Great.

Her head tilted to the side in curiosity, "Right now? While our children are in your car waiting for you?"

"Oh! Yeah, right!" she glanced back at the car, waving to the twins and then holding up his index finger to imply that she'd be there in one minute. "We can talk about it later. I just wanted to let you know…I'm moving to New York."

Well damn. Yeah, they'd definitely need to talk about that.

But later, because the blonde was already running back to her sporty little Corvette for her weekend with their kids.

0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0  
"WHAT?!"

Regina jumped nearly shattering her cider glass on the floor. Luckily she had already drunken enough of the tart liquid that even with the abrupt motion, nothing spilled out from the rim. "Jesus Christ, Ruby! I'm sitting right here. You don't need to yell."

Her best friend paused Orange is the New Black, and turned on the couch to face her. "You can't just tell me that Emma is moving here and not expect me to react, Regina! What the actual fuck? Why? I thought she wanted to stay in L.A!"

Regina stretched her toes that were propped on the coffee table in front of her. Twirling the glass of cider between her fingers, she bit her bottom lip, clearly contemplating Emma's latest bombshell. "I thought so too. She just dropped it on me when she picked Henry and Liv up today. And then drove off before I could ask her anything about it."

Ruby waited a moment before speaking up again, "How do you feel about it?"

Regina jerked her head towards the other woman hearing the unspoken question. "No, Ruby. Absolutely not. Just…no."

Ruby held her hands up in surrender, "I know, Gina. But you and Emma were supposed to be endgame. And the only reason you divorced was because you wanted different things. But now that she's moving back maybe she wants-"

"Ruby, stop. It's not happening." She sighed, placing the cider glass on the table a bit too hard and standing up to pace the room. "Emma was selfish and deceitful and that's why we divorced. She didn't think it was important to be there for us when we needed her. So many missed calls and voicemails when all I needed was to hear her voice. What seemed like a million nights staying up with Liv sobbing into my chest, trying to explain to her why she wouldn't see ma for a few more weeks, or telling Henry that I had to help him with his soccer skills because ma wouldn't make it home before the game…again."

She felt it all rushing to the surface. Things that she'd rarely let herself think about during the last six years, "She wasn't there for their first day of school, Ruby. Their first day of school! I had to walk our children into their classroom, and say goodbye to them and she wasn't even there. I couldn't drive home for twenty minutes because the tears wouldn't stop! And birthdays! God, the birthdays. She missed so many of their birthdays. And sometimes a Skype call just won't cut it. Not to mention the times that she completely forgot about mine…" Her voice trailed off, so she could choke back the tears threatening to spill out.

Walking back to her best friend, she sat on the coffee table facing her. "I can't do it again. Emma Swan stopped being the girl I fell in love with a long time ago. And the twins….I could never pull them back into anything like that. They're the most important people in my life. She's all but neglected them since the divorce, thinking that maybe she could buy their love but they deserve so much more. All I want is for my babies to have their ma back."

She didn't feel the tears streaming down her face until Ruby leaned over to wipe one of the salty betrayers away. "I know, honey. Come here."

Plopping back over to the couch, Regina laid her head onto the other woman's lap. It was their usual position when one of them needed comfort.

Running her nails through the chocolate locks sprawled across her legs, Ruby finally spoke. "Regina, you know that I love Henry and Olivia more than anything. Since the moment that the little shits flew out from between your legs all of us were head over heels for them."

Regina laughed through the swollen mess that was her face.

"And they needs their ma. I understand what you're saying. And I remember everything too…"

She could hear the anger beginning to come out in her best friends voice and squeezed the thigh that her head was resting on in reassurance.

"She really has turned into an asshole. I guess a part of me will just always hold on to the hope that Emma and you will be a duo again, you know? We all had such good times."  
Relaxing under the feel of fingertips tracing along her scalp, Regina let her eyes drift close, "I know, Ruby. I know."

0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0  
"Strawberry milkshakes?" Emma asked with a wide grin, sitting in a fifties themed diner across from two sixteen year olds who reminded her too much of their mother.

From the poised way that Olivia sat in the booth.

To the sure hand that flew across his phone as Henry worked out a physics problem that one of his friends had texted him for fun.

And the inherent sarcasm. The sarcasm that was being put on display at this very moment.

"Yeah, sure!" Henry perked up, putting his phone down, "And also I'll have the dino-nuggets and the fun crown hat! Then afterwards you can give me a piggyback and tuck me in just like you used to when I was ten!"

Emma grimaced, knowing exactly where this was going.

"Except, oh gosh, I forgot that the world has continued turning in the past six years." He placed his menu down on the table and folded his hands over it with a shrug, "Shucks."

"Henry, are we going to do this every time we see each other?" Emma asked tentatively.

He shrugged again and reopened his menu in an attempt to find what it was that he actually wanted. Olivia decided this was a good time to chime in. "Well if we saw each other more than once a year he probably wouldn't have to keep reminding you."

Twins: 1, Emma: 0.

"Well what if I told you that I have a way that we might just be able to make that work?"

Liv's eyebrow lifted perfectly, yet another thing the teenager had inherited from her ex-wife.

"I guess we wouldn't know unless you told us."

She had grown into quite the firecracker. It still surprised the singer every time she saw her. It blew her mind that there was a time when she used to fit into one of her hands and now her daughter sat across from her with the mouth of a witty comedian and denim shorts that would probably be banned even from the VMA's.

She'd be talking to Regina about that.

"I'm moving to New York."

White knuckles visibly tensed around the laminated plastic of the menu, "What?"

Henry didn't seem too thrilled but that didn't really surprise the blonde woman. She knew she had a lot of making up to do with him. With both of her children.  
And their mother.

"I'm moving here. After this album releases I think I'm going to step off stage for a little bit. Try my hand at producing songs instead of singing them. Heck maybe your mom might hire me at her label…"

They didn't laugh at her joke.

"Why are you doing this?" Olivia's voice was just above a whisper.

"I told you. I just want to take a br-"

"Ma. Why are you doing this?" Henry spoke much more clearly than his sister.

Long fingers tore through her hair as she really thought about the answer to their question. It then dawned on her that they were sixteen and old enough to know the truth. "I fucked up, guys." Both sets of eyes widened at the swear. If there was one thing that had remained constant in their lives in terms of their parents, it was their strictness about cursing.

Although their Aunt Ruby had been loyally counteracting said strictness for as long as they could remember.

"I fucked up with you guys and with your mom. And while I know that it's too late to rectify the situation with her, I still have time to fix things with you. You're my everything and it kills me that we don't have the relationship that we used to. When your faces used to light up when I held out my arms to you and when you needed me to sing you lullabies before you'd even get into bed. I get that you're…well you're older now. And I don't know how to be the ma of teenagers. I know I haven't done a great job the past six years but I want to be better. So that's why I'm moving here. To rebuild a relationship with my daughter and son."

There was an internal struggle being fought inside of Henry, Emma could see it in the all too familiar eyes. "It's going to take more than empty promises for us to forgive you, you know?"

She swallowed dryly, "They aren't empty, kid."

He nodded briskly, and Liv reached for the wrapper to her straw and twirled it in her lap to avoid her ma's eyes. "Have you told mom?"

"Yeah."

At her answer the young blonde looked up, "What did she say?"

She cleared her throat at the thought of having to face her ex-wife now that she'd had time to let the news sink in, "Nothing. I ran to the car before she could."

Henry chuckled, "Smart woman."

Right as Emma was poised to respond, the waitress came over. "What can I get you three?"

Emma looked to her daughter, urging her to order first. "I'll have the barbeque burger with everything."

The waitress nodded, and scribbled it down. "And to drink, hon?"

Bright green eyes met across the linoleum tabletop.

"A strawberry shake, please."


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you so much for the reviews! Especially those that pointed out the accidental gender swapping. Just to explain why it seems like Emma is going through an identity crisis, when I originally wrote this it was for a M/F pairing. Emma is, clearly, taking over the role of the male and from now on I’ll be more conscious of the pronouns. This is the last prewritten chapter though so it should get much easier from here! That being said, it also very heavy on Olivia since I know it’s hard to form an attachment to characters we don’t yet know. But fear not, Henry will be back soon!

“Where is she? Is everything okay?” Regina pushed through the door as soon as Emma opened it, taking control of the situation just as Emma had suspected she would. She had barely even caught a glimpse of Regina’s skintight yoga pants and loose deep red sweatshirt before the brunette had rounded the corner in pursuit of their daughter. 

“3rd door on the right!” Emma called to her, jogging to catch up and lightly grabbing Regina’s arm before she could enter Olivia’s room. Harsh, russet eyes locked in on her. “Regina, I tried everything. She won’t let me in there. I…I didn’t know what to do. I tried…”

Regina’s gaze searched Emma’s face and she must have sensed some note of sincerity because her eyes softened and she nodded nearly imperceptibly. Knuckles lightly rapping against the door, she spoke through the wood. “Liv? It’s me, honey. Can I come in?”

Almost immediately the click of the door unlocking echoed through the hallway and Emma breathed a sigh of relief. Her ex-wife gave her a soft smile before opening the door, but as Emma moved to follow her, she was met face to face with the gleam of the wooden door.

0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0

“Oh, Thank God.” Olivia mumbled, grabbing Regina by the hand and pulling her to the bed. 

Regina stumbled to a seated position with her legs hanging off the edge of the mattress and bit back a laugh as the young blonde threw her head into her mothers lap before swinging her legs up so that one was tucked into her chest and one extended to rest on the headboard, twisting her back into an angle that would work great in an exorcism movie. It was admittedly freaky. 

“Cramping?” Regina asked in a tone laced with sympathy. She’d seen her daughter contort her body like this many times in the past four years and it had always meant the same thing. By this point she was well versed in her role in easing the pain, and so she reached beneath her daughter’s shirt and placed her hand firmly on her stomach applying just the right amount of pressure. Her other hand moved to her forehead and swept away blonde locks, damp with sweat. 

The blonde for her part nodded pitifully. “I feel like my uterine wall is being bitch slapped by a million tiny dwarves.”

Regina’s eyes widened, “Liv! Language!” 

“Oh, cut me some slack! I’m in so much pain!” Olivia groaned, eyes rolling in the back of her head. 

“I know, sweetheart.” Regina continued to run her fingers through the hair that fawned across her lap. “Why didn’t you tell your ma what was wrong? She called saying that you looked sick after dinner and ran straight to your room once you guys got home. You could’ve told her what was wrong.”

The younger girl shot up, turning to face her and furrowed her brow. “Mom. Absolutely not.”

Regina laughed lightly, “You could’ve! She knows what cramps are, Liv. Not only is she a woman, but she was also married to one for ten years if you recall.”

“That would have been all the awkwards. I may as well have just told Hen at that point. I was going to wait it out instead.” She shrugged, falling back into her moms lap.

Regina bit the corner of her lip, debating whether or not to address what was bothering her. In the end, she couldn’t ignore it and was curious about the answer. “Why didn’t you call me?” 

Wide hazel eyes identical to her Emma’s looked up at her. “Mom, I’m 16. I can handle an hour or two of bad cramping. I’m basically a freaking gynecologist at this point.”

“Yes, I suppose you’re right…” Regina muttered. 

Hearing the insecurity in the older woman’s voice, Olivia sat up again. “Mom…” she spoke softly. 

“So!” Regina rubbed her palms on her thighs. “Would you like some tea or something?” 

“Mom, stop.” She grabbed the brunette’s hands. “It’s nothing personal. I just didn’t think you needed to drive across town at midnight to rub my tummy and tell me I’ll feel better soon. It’s your Red Queen night.”

“Red Queen night?”

“Ya know, you and Aunt Ruby. I played around with Reguby and Rubina but it just didn’t flow. Plus, the record label is called Evil Queen and Ruby is well…red, so it just works.”

Regina choked back a laugh. “I see. And why, may I ask, do your Aunt Ruby and I have a portmanteau?”

“I dunno. I just kind of made it up. Like Uncle Neal and ma are Swan Fire. Cause you know, Uncle Neal’s producing name. And you and ma are….” Catching herself mid ramble, she trailed off with wide eyes.

Knowing that her daughter was trying to protect her feelings, the brunette brushed a loose lock of hair behind Olivia ear and smiled softly. “Swan Queen.” 

The blonde’s back straightened. “How’d you know that?!”

“Darling, your ma and I were together for thirteen years. During which she became an international music star, and I a very well known songwriter and label owner. I hate to break it to you but you are far from the first to coin the two of us as ‘Swan Queen.”

Olivia blinked. “Why is it just now dawning on me that you guys were a celebrity couple?”

Rich laughter lilted through the room, “I’m not entirely sure.”

“Did everyone love you guys? Were you like Brad and Angelina?” She sat up fully and crossed her legs in anticipation of hearing about her parents’ marriage. 

“That, my sweet,” Regina responded, patting her daughter’s thigh, “is a question for your ma. I’ll go get you some tea.”

As she stood to leave the room, the young blonde grabbed her hand. “Mom?”

The brunette looked back. “Yes, dear?” 

“I still need you. I’ll always need you.”

Regina’s smile could’ve lit up the room. “I know.” She leaned down to kiss the forehead of the most important girl in her world, leaving her forehead resting against hers, “And I need you to know that no ‘Red Queen’ night or work event, or even the apocalypse could keep me from you when you need me.”

“Oh gosh, you’re so dramatic.” Olivia mumbled, playfully pushing her mom towards the bedroom door.

0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0

Emma tapped the backspace key of her computer once more, still at a loss about how exactly one tells their manager that they want a break from the very thing that they are managing you for. 

“This would be so much easier if Ruby was still my manager.” She mumbled to herself, bringing up a hand to drag through already tangles hair. 

“What about Ruby?” At that moment Regina re-entered the living room, softly closing Olivia’s door behind her and raising an eyebrow at Emma to inquire why the name of her best friend just left her lips. “And do you happen to have any hot tea lying around your bachelorette pad?” Regina glanced around the penthouse distastefully, taking in the dark cherry woods and black leather furniture. “Where’s Henry, by the way?”

“Yeah, I do. Here, I’ll get it. The kid’s in his room playing Xbox. Is Olivia okay? What’s wrong?” Emma swiftly closed her laptop and headed to the kitchen. “Green, earl gray, black, or chamomile?”

“Um…chamomile. It’ll help her sleep. She was just cramping.” Regina followed the blonde and pointed towards a cabinet above the counter. “Mugs?”

“That one.” Emma said and pointed back to the cabinet next to the fridge, before reaching into a wooden box and pulling out a tea bag. “Cramps? Why didn’t she come to me?” 

After placing the mug full of water into the microwave the brunette turned to face her, leaning back against the stove with her arms across her chest. “Well you can’t really blame our sixteen year old for not wanting to come to her typically absent ma with her menstrual troubles.”

Emma mirrored her position from across the kitchen. “Hey now. I was great at easing your cramps.”

Regina let her eyes quickly roam over the white tank that was baring her muscles and her blue cotton pajama shorts. “You were. But how is she to know that?” Emma shrugged in agreement. “What were you saying about Ruby? Earlier.”

The blonde began to roll the teabag through her fingers. “Just how much easier things were when she was still my manager.”

“Hmm. Well you probably should’ve thought of that before leaving her for brighter lights.” At seeing the flash in hazel eyes, Regina quickly backtracked, “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to say…I’m sorry. What’s so difficult with your current manager?”

Emma chose to skip over her ex’s fighting words. “Telling him that I need time off.”

Regina’s arms dropped to her sides. “What?”

“I told you I was moving to New York, Gina….”

“Regina. And sure you did, but I thought you were just going to work from here. You can’t just take time off. You’re Emma Swan-Mills!”

The microwave beeped and Emma watched as Regina moved to take the mug out. “Some things are more important than being Emma Swan-Mills.” 

At the blonde’s words, Regina’s shoulders tensed as she seemed to wage an internal war. When the mug slammed onto the counter, it was clear that her impulse had won out. “Oh that’s rich. When did this new sentiment arise in you? Because you certainly didn’t feel that way six years ago when you were jet setting around the globe and leaving me to care for our children.” 

“Regina, I-“

“No, Emma.” Regina plucked the teabag from her fingers and ripped the paper off, crumbling it in her fist before dropping the bag in the hot water. Inhaling deeply to reclaim her patience she asked, “Why are you moving here?” Her eyes connected with Emma’s. “Why are you doing this to us?”

Hazel eyes never wavered as she responded, “I need my children back.” Regina opened her mouth to respond but was cut off, “I know you love them, Regina. I know that you would jump in front of a train to protect their hearts and I know the pride you get from looking into their eyes and seeing yourself. Seeing kids that are so fucking smart and witty and kind, and knowing that you created that. I know those things because they happen to me. Because they’re my kids too. They are the thing I am most proud of in my life and I want them to know that. I’ve messed up so much with them. I missed so much. I can’t miss anymore. I need to struggle over Henry’s homework with him while he laughs at me cause I never went to college. Or teach him how to bicycle kick and hope I don’t throw my back out due to old age. And to grill any sorry bastards that either of them dare to bring home because no one could ever be good enough for them. To fight with Liv over those ridiculously short shorts that she thinks she can get away with wearing, and honestly Regina, why the fuck do you let her leave the house like that?!” The corner of the brunette’s lips twitched, “And I want to walk her down the aisle and give her away to whatever person she tries to convince me is worthy of her. That’s why I’m moving back, Gina. I don’t want to run out of time. “

Finally taking a breath, she looked up and saw a genuine smile on his ex-wife’s face. Confused for a moment, Emma realized that Regina was looking over her shoulder. Turning to follow her gaze, Emma was taken back by what she saw. 

Tears clouded her daughter’s eyes as she stood in the doorway with her lips slightly parted. Before Emma could say anything a flurry of pink and blonde was running towards her. She swiftly opened her arms as Olivia slammed into her chest, arms circling her waist. Immediately she wrapped her arms around thin shoulders and pressed a kiss to the top of her head. 

A few moments later Olivia broke away from the hug and grabbed Emma’s hand. “Will you sing?” And then she reached for her mom with her free hand, “Both of you? Sing the song.” 

Emma looked across to the mother of her children, knowing exactly what song Olivia was referring to. 

The air was tense for a moment as both Emma and her daughter waited for the matriarch’s decision. 

“Of course, honey.”

0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0

They had migrated into the spacious living room. Olivia sitting on the coffee table with her tea behind her and Regina next to her as they waited for Emma to return with her guitar. 

“Did she mean what she said?”

Regina didn’t need to ask for clarification as she covered her daughter’s hand and crossed her legs. “Every word of it.”

At that moment Emma walked into the room bearing not only her custom Gibson, but another smaller guitar with a lighter finish and a dark henna design on its face. “Let’s do this.”

Olivia eyed the smaller guitar clearly impressed, “Is that for mom?”

Emma laughed, “Absolutely not!” 

With an eyebrow raised at her ma’s adamant refusal, the younger woman glanced at her mom. 

“While I am decidedly the smarter between your ma and I, she, as you know, is an instrumental genius. She taught me to play a couple of instruments outside of the piano…”

“Harmonica, violin, drums…she had no problem with any of those. But your mom trying to play a guitar….most painful experience of my life.” The blonde sat across from Olivia on the couch and positioned her guitar on her legs. 

“Excuse you.” Regina bemoaned with a hand to her chest, appalled at Emma’s review. 

Emma smirked, “Don’t play dumb. You know you were terrible.” With her guitar finally in a comfortable position, she reached for the other one. “Are you still playing, Liv?”

The younger blonde practically salivated as she took the instrument into her hands. “Henry’s more comfortable with guitar. I’ll go see if he-”

She was stopped from standing with a hand to her wrist. “He, uh…” Emma’s free hand rubbed the back of her neck. “He said he’d pass. Must’ve been tired or something.”

It was obvious from the rigid way that Emma shook her head that something had happened when she had gone to ask Henry about joining them, but Regina figured that if either her ex-wife or her son wanted to confide in her they’d do so when ready. For now, the most she could do is ease the pain of one of her children until the other was ready for her.

Olivia must’ve also read Emma’s feelings because she returned to her seat on the coffee table and positioned the guitar. “Well, no worries. You can’t be Emma Swan-Mills’ daughter and not be able to whip out some guitar skills. Hen can show off next time.”

“I was hoping you’d say that. Do you still remember this one?”

She looked up from the strings and smiled at her. “Of course I do, ma. It’s the first one you ever taught us.”

Emma grinned. “What about you? You need to warm up your vocals or something?” She nodded towards Regina referring to the weird and obsessive warm up routine she used to do before singing.

“Shut up and play.”

Emma laughed. She told herself not to get too comfortable with this setup but she couldn’t help the strain that slowly seeped out of her posture. This was what she hoped to gain by moving back here. This relaxing and comfortable time spent with her family. She knew she had a lot of making up to do with Regina and Henry especially, but hoped she could at least have Olivia on her side. Pushing those thoughts aside for now, she turned back to her daughter. “You play the chords and I’ll jump in. Just stick with the chords, okay?”

Olivia nodded and began strumming. After three eight counts, she began to wonder why her mom hadn’t jumped in with the vocals yet. She looked over to her with a questioning brow but Regina simply winked at her with a twinkle in her eye. 

Just as she was about to stop strumming, her ma began to play. 

And Olivia’s mind was thoroughly fucked. Because what Emma was doing now was nothing like what her daughter had seen her do a million times before. 

For as long as she could remember, her mom and ma had been singing this song to her and Henry nightly before bed. While most children got Rock a Bye Baby, they had been lucky enough to be the spawn of two insanely talented musicians which meant some pretty spectacular bedtime songs. Her mom had once told her that the twins were the original sounding board for all the songs that she wrote for her ma. One night however, Henry was so colicky that her ma had brought out her guitar and stood next to her mom while she rocked him to sleep singing this song. And from that point on it was the one song that was guaranteed to settle both of the twins down. 

But never in her life had she heard her ma do with the guitar what she was doing right now. Her fingers worked over the wood and strings as she used the instrument to play not only the rhythm guitar section of the song, but also the bass and the drums. It took everything in her to maintain her simple chords and not stop right there to watch in awe. But then her moms rich, velvety voice rang clearly through the room. 

“Here come old flattop, he come grooving up slowly  
He got joo-joo eyeball, he one holy roller  
He got hair down to his knee  
Got to be a joker he just do what he please.”

Olivia watched in awe as during the pause in vocals, her mom tapped her fingers on the table in perfect harmony with her ma on the guitar. It was like a seamless dance that they had done time and time again. She had never really understood what it took to make music like this the last time she’d heard this song six years ago. But now…now it was….

“He wear no shoeshine, he got toe-jam football  
He got monkey finger, he shoot coca-cola  
He say "I know you, you know me"  
One thing I can tell you is you got to be free  
Come together right now over me.”

Magin. It was absolute magic. Her ma had jumped in to harmonize with her mom and the way that the smooth depth of Regina’s voice perfectly vibed with the higher raspiness of Emma’s left Olivia’s jaw dropped in envy that she may never find someone to make music so fluidly with. 

“He bag production, he got walrus gumboot  
He got Ono sideboard, he one spinal cracker  
He got feet down below his knee  
Hold you in his armchair you can feel his disease  
Come together right now over me.”

When it broke to the guitar solo, Olivia could no longer even pretend to be engaged. Her hands fell to the edge of the instrument in her lap as she watched her ma get lost in the riff. With her eyes closed, head bowed, and fingers flying across the strings she’d never seen Emma more at ease than this very moment. 

Emma continued to play and Olivia glanced at her mother. Regina must’ve clearly seen the adoration in her daughter’s eyes because she simply shrugged and smirked as if to say, “Yeah. That’s your ma.”

As the musical break was nearing the end, Regina mouthed to Olivia, “Sing with her.”

So she did.

“He roller-coaster, he got early warning  
He got muddy water, he one mojo filter  
He say "One and one and one is three"  
Got to be good-looking cos’ he's so hard to see  
Come together right now over me.”

As soon as the first word left her mouth, Emma’s head shot up and a huge smile broke out on her face. It was the first time she’d heard her daughter’s voice. Well her semi-fully developed voice, at least. And Emma was proud that she seemed to be just as musically inclined as she and Regina were. At the last line, the three of them merged their voices and Olivia couldn’t help but to feel like this was the way it should always be. 

However, a shadow at the corner of Olivia’s eye drew her focus to the doorframe that led to the living room. And as Henry leaned against the wall with crossed arms and a furrowed brow, there was no doubt in her mind that her brother had a very differing opinion.


End file.
